Method and device for monitoring frequency domain-based wireless link in wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a technique for radio link monitoring in a wireless communication system, and to operation procedures of the base station and user equipment and a method for radio link quality evaluation on the basis of the technique. In the method, the user equipment divides the downlink channel bandwidth into multiple frequency ranges, measures channel states for each frequency range, and evaluates the radio link quality based on channel state measurement results. Thereafter, the user equipment sends frequency range quality information to the base station, which may then utilize the same for downlink resource allocation. Hence, it is possible to solve the problem of the existing scheme wherein the user equipment enters the physical layer problem detection state or the radio link failure state although a frequency range usable for service provisioning is present within the downlink channel bandwidth.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 15/619,952, filed on Jun. 12, 2017, and a continuation of priorapplication Ser. No. 14/349,485, filed on Apr. 3, 2014, which issued asU.S. Pat. No. 9,681,445 on Jun. 13, 2017, and under 35 U.S.C. § 371 ofan International application filed on Oct. 26, 2012, and assignedapplication number PCT/KR2012/008883, and claimed the benefit under 35U.S.C § 119(a) of a Korean patent application filed on Oct. 26, 2011 inthe Korean Intellectual Property Office and assigned Serial number10-2011-0109753, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporatedby reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system. Moreparticularly, the present disclosure relates to a technique for radiolink monitoring, and to operation procedures of a base station and userequipment and a method for radio link quality evaluation on the basis ofthe technique.

BACKGROUND ART

In a wireless communication system, a user equipment performs radio linkmonitoring by measuring the state of a downlink channel connected to thecurrent base station, evaluating the downlink quality based onmeasurement results, and determining whether the downlink channel isable to provide a reliable level of service. As a representativeexample, the Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, which is developed as anext generation mobile communication system by the 3rd GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP), a standardization body for asynchronouscellular mobile communication, specifies that a user equipment shouldevaluate downlink quality by measuring a common reference signal (CRS)transmitted on downlink from a corresponding base station for radio linkmonitoring. Here, reference signals that a user equipment may receive onthe downlink of the LTE system may include the CRS described above,channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and demodulationreference signal (DMRS).

To evaluate radio link quality, the user equipment performs CRS-basedmeasurement for a given time, filters measurement values, and comparesthe filtered results with preset thresholds. Here, the threshold isdefined as the signal level corresponding to a given block error rate(BLER) of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) transmissiondistributed over the entire downlink channel bandwidth. In the currentspecification, the threshold Q_out is defined as the level correspondingto a block error rate of 10 percent, and the threshold Q_in is definedas the level corresponding to a block error rate of 2 percent. The userequipment sets thresholds Q_out and Q_in respectively to the levelscorresponding to the given block error rates of a hypothetical PDCCHtransmission taking into account Physical Control Format IndicatorChannel (PCFICH) errors, and compares the estimated level with thethresholds.

When the level of the estimated radio link quality is lower than thethreshold Q_out, the current radio link quality is evaluated as“out-of-sync”; and when the level of the estimated radio link quality ishigher than the threshold Q_in, the current radio link quality isevaluated as “in-sync”. “Out-of-sync” indicates that the currentdownlink state is not reliable, and “in-sync” indicates that the currentdownlink state is reliable. According to evaluation results, thephysical layer of the user equipment sends either an out-of-syncindication or an in-sync indication to the higher layers.

When the out-of-sync indication occurs consecutively a given number oftimes or more, the higher layer of the user equipment detects a downlinkquality error and switches to a physical layer problem detection state,in which a corresponding timer is started. When the user equipment doesnot recover from the physical layer problem detection state before thetimer expires, radio link failure is declared. When the in-syncindication occurs consecutively a given number of times or more at thephysical layer before the timer expires, the user equipment recovers thenormal state from the physical layer problem detection state.

In 3GPP Release 11 currently under standardization, it is proposed tointroduce a new carrier type without CRS transmission. Hence, theexisting CRS-based scheme for radio link monitoring may no longer beapplicable.

In particular, for a carrier of the new type, it is highly probable toconfigure data and control channels through frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM). Hence, it may be possible to provide a downlinkservice to a user equipment even when only a frequency range within thedownlink channel bandwidth on a carrier of the new type exhibits areliable level of quality.

In such a situation, when Q_out and Q_in are defined with reference togiven block error rates of a hypothetical PDCCH transmission distributedover the overall downlink channel bandwidth as in the conventionalmanner, if the average quality of the overall downlink channel bandwidthis lower than Q_out, the radio link quality would be evaluated asout-of-sync although a frequency range within the downlink channelbandwidth exhibits a level of quality sufficient to maintain a downlinkservice. Likewise, although a frequency range within the downlinkchannel bandwidth exhibits a level of quality evaluating to in-sync, theradio link quality would not be evaluated as in-sync because the averagequality of the overall downlink channel bandwidth is lower than Q_out.

For example, in the event that the existing radio link qualityevaluation scheme is applied to the new carrier type, a situation mayarise as shown FIG. 1 wherein Q_out is set as indicated by indicia 100and the average quality of the overall downlink channel bandwidth isestimated by the user equipment as indicated by indicia 101. Here,although frequency ranges which exhibit a level of channel qualityhigher than Q_out and are usable for allocating control and datachannels are present within the downlink channel bandwidth as indicatedby indicia 102, the user equipment will evaluate the current radio linkquality to out-of-sync.

A user equipment residing at a cell edge where the average level ofquality of the overall downlink channel bandwidth is close to thethreshold is highly likely to encounter the above situation. Thereby,although it is possible for the user equipment to receive a service fromthe current cell, the user equipment may perform an undesired operationsuch as conducting unnecessary handover to a neighbor cell, entering thephysical layer problem detection state, or entering the radio linkfailure state.

Hence, it is necessary to develop a new technique that can solve theabove problems and support smooth radio link monitoring.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Aspects of the present disclosure are to address the above mentionedproblems. Accordingly, an aspect of the present disclosure is to providea method and device that enable a user equipment conducting radio linkmonitoring in a wireless communication system to evaluate the radio linkquality for one or more frequency ranges divided within the overalldownlink channel bandwidth.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method anddevice that enable the user equipment to send information on the qualityof the frequency ranges to a base station through the uplink and enablethe base station to allocate control and data channels to the userequipment on the basis of the received quality information.

Solution to Problem

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, in a wirelesscommunication system, the user equipment measures and evaluates channelstates for each of one or more frequency ranges divided within thedownlink channel bandwidth.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, the userequipment performs radio link monitoring by evaluating the radio linkquality to in-sync or out-of-sync on the basis of channel statemeasurement results obtained for the individual frequency ranges.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, the userequipment sends an uplink resource allocation request such as ascheduling request or a random access preamble to the base station, andsends frequency range quality information obtained through radio linkquality evaluation to the base station through uplink resourcesallocated by the base station.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, the base stationallocates downlink control and data channels to the user equipment onthe basis of the frequency range quality information received from theuser equipment.

According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, after sending arequest for uplink resource allocation to be used to transmit frequencyrange quality information, if uplink resource allocation information isnot received from the base station, the user equipment performs radiolink quality evaluation for the overall downlink channel bandwidth.

According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, after qualityevaluation for individual frequency ranges, when the quality of all thefrequency ranges is either reliable or unreliable, the user equipmentdoes not send the frequency range quality information through the uplinkchannel.

More specifically, in accordance with an aspect of the presentdisclosure, a method of radio link monitoring for a user equipment in awireless communication system is provided. The method may include:dividing the downlink channel bandwidth into multiple frequency rangesfor radio link monitoring; measuring channel states for each frequencyrange; and evaluating the radio link quality to in-sync or out-of-syncon the basis of channel state measurement results.

In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a userequipment conducting radio link monitoring in a wireless communicationsystem is provided. The user equipment may include: a transceiver unitto send and receive signals to and from a base station; a channelmeasurement unit to divide the downlink channel bandwidth into multiplefrequency ranges for radio link monitoring and to measure channel statesfor each frequency range; and a radio link quality evaluator to evaluatethe radio link quality to in-sync or out-of-sync on the basis of channelstate measurement results.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In a feature of the present disclosure, a user equipment may evaluatethe radio link quality for one or more frequency ranges divided withinthe overall downlink channel bandwidth and send information on thequality of the frequency ranges to a base station. The base station mayuse the received quality information to allocate control and datachannels to the user equipment.

Hence, it is possible to solve the problem, which may be caused by theexisting scheme for radio link monitoring, wherein the user equipmententers the physical layer problem detection state or the radio linkfailure state although a frequency range usable for service provisioningis present within the downlink channel bandwidth. In addition, when afrequency range usable for service provisioning is present within thedownlink channel bandwidth, it is possible to effectively utilize such afrequency range and prevent the user equipment from conductingunnecessary handover.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a problem that may arise when an existing scheme forradio link monitoring is utilized.

FIG. 2 illustrates a scheme for dividing the downlink channel bandwidthinto one or more frequency ranges to conduct radio link monitoring in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is a procedure performed by a user equipment to evaluate radiolink quality in a wireless communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 is another procedure performed by a user equipment to evaluateradio link quality in a wireless communication system according to anembodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a procedure performed by a user equipment to send informationon the quality of frequency ranges to a base station in a wirelesscommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 6 is another procedure performed by a user equipment to sendinformation on the quality of frequency ranges to a base station in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates a scheme for a user equipment to insert frequencyrange quality information into the Physical Uplink Shared Channel(PUSCH) in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates another scheme for a user equipment to insertfrequency range quality information into the PUSCH in a wirelesscommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates a configuration of a base station transceiver devicein a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 illustrates a configuration of a terminal transceiver device ina wireless communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates an operation procedure performed by a base stationin a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates an operation procedure performed by a user equipmentin a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure aredescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and structuresincorporated herein may be omitted to avoid obscuring the subject matterof the present disclosure. Particular terms may be defined to describethe present disclosure in the best manner. Accordingly, the meaning ofspecific terms or words used in the specification and the claims shouldbe construed in accordance with the spirit of the present disclosure.

Next, a description is given of radio link monitoring performed by auser equipment on the basis of one or more frequency ranges dividedwithin the downlink channel bandwidth, an operation procedure betweenthe base station and user equipment, and evaluation of radio linkquality.

In the present disclosure, the base station uses a new carrier type andperforms not only downlink data channel transmission but also downlinkcontrol channel transmission through frequency division multiplexing(FDM). Reference signals that a user equipment may use for radio linkmonitoring may include the common reference signal (CRS) and channelstate information reference signal (CSI-RS). In embodiments of thepresent disclosure, it is assumed that the CRS is not transmitted whenthe new carrier type is used. Hence, the user equipment uses results ofmeasurement based on the CSI-RS to perform radio link monitoring.However, the present disclosure is not limited to utilization of theCSI-RS, and another reference signal such as the CRS may also be used.

In the present disclosure, for radio link monitoring, the downlinkchannel bandwidth is divided into one or more frequency ranges. To thisend, the base station notifies the user equipment of configuration ofthe divided frequency ranges. Here, frequency range configurationinformation may be sent from the base station to the user equipmentthrough RRC signaling, and the configuration information may includeinformation regarding sizes of divided frequency ranges, the numberthereof, and positions in frequencies thereof. The user equipmentmeasures the channel state for each frequency range, and performsquality evaluation for each frequency range on the basis of channelstate measurement results. Then, the user equipment evaluates radio linkquality to either out-of-sync (or poor) or in-sync (or normal) on thebasis of quality evaluation results for individual frequency ranges. Theuser equipment sends frequency range quality information derived fromevaluation of radio link quality to the base station. After reception ofthe frequency range quality information, the base station utilizes thefrequency range quality information to allocate data and controlchannels to the user equipment.

Configuration information regarding one or more frequency ranges dividedwithin the downlink channel bandwidth for radio link monitoring, such assizes of the frequency ranges and the number thereof, may be determinedby the base station and the user equipment may be notified thereofthrough Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling or other signaling.Configuration information regarding frequency ranges divided within thedownlink channel bandwidth for radio link monitoring may also be agreedupon between the base station and user equipment in advance withoutseparate signaling for frequency range configuration. Alternatively, theuser equipment may determine to configure divided frequency rangeswithin the downlink channel bandwidth and notify the base station of thedetermination. The criteria for configuring frequency ranges may includethe downlink channel bandwidth, uplink channel bandwidth, traffic loadof the base station, base station type, and user equipment type. Otherfactors may also be considered.

When the base station supports multi-carrier transmission such ascarrier aggregation (CA), frequency ranges for radio link monitoring maybe configured not only in the downlink channel bandwidth of one carrierbut also in the entire downlink channel bandwidth of multiple aggregatedcarriers. For example, if N carriers are available for CA, the basestation may configure N frequency ranges so that each frequency rangecorresponds to the downlink channel bandwidth of one carrier. The basestation may also configure settings so that radio link monitoring isperformed only on the downlink channel bandwidth of a part of the Ncarriers. Here, a unit frequency range may be flexibly configured sothat the size thereof corresponds to the whole or a portion of thedownlink channel bandwidth of one carrier. The sizes and number of unitfrequency ranges may also be configured differently carrier-by-carrier.

In embodiments, the frequency range quality information may includeinformation on at least one frequency range exhibiting a reliable levelof quality or information on at least one frequency range exhibiting anunreliable level of quality. Alternatively, the frequency range qualityinformation may include information representing individual qualityvalues of one or more frequency ranges. Here, quality values may berepresented as absolute values or as differences with respect to a givenreference value. As described before, the frequency range qualityinformation may be utilized to allocate control and data channels to thecorresponding user equipment.

In the present disclosure, the user equipment performs radio linkquality evaluation separately for one or more frequency ranges dividedwithin the downlink channel bandwidth for radio link monitoring.

FIG. 2 illustrates a scheme for dividing the downlink channel bandwidthinto one or more frequency ranges to conduct radio link monitoring in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 2, the downlink channel bandwidth is divided intothree frequency ranges (sub-bands) and the three frequency ranges arerepresented respectively as Sub-band 0, Sub-band 1 and Sub-band 2 asindicated by indicia 200, 201 and 202.

To conduct radio link quality evaluation, for each frequency rangedivided as shown in FIG. 2, the user equipment computes an average levelfor the frequency range using channel state measurement values based onthe CSI-RS contained in the frequency range, filters the average level,and compares the filtered average level with the threshold Q_out 203 (orthe first reference value).

It can be seen that the average level 204 for Sub-band 0 (200) is higherthan Q_out 203, the average level 205 for Sub-band 1 (201) is lower thanQ_out 203, and the average level 206 for Sub-band 2 (202) is higher thanQ_out 203. That is, while the frequency range indicated by Sub-band 1(201) exhibits an unreliable level of quality, the quality levels of thefrequency ranges indicated by Sub-band 0 (200) and Sub-band 2 (202) arenot so degraded as to be unreliable. In FIG. 2, the user equipment isdescribed as comparing each of the average levels 204, 205 and 206 ofthe individual frequency ranges with Q_out. However, the user equipmentmay compare each of the average levels 204, 205 and 206 of theindividual frequency ranges with not only Q_out but also Q_in. Morespecifically, the user equipment compares the average level of eachfrequency range with Q_out to check whether radio link quality evaluatesto out-of-sync. On the other hand, the user equipment compares theaverage level of each frequency range with Q_in to check whether radiolink quality evaluates to in-sync.

In the present disclosure, the size of a divided frequency range is notlimited to a particular value and may be set to one of various values.For example, the size of a frequency range may be set to a suitable oneamong 6, 15, 25, 50, 75 and 100 resource blocks (RBs) corresponding to1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20 MHz channel bandwidths supportable in the LTEsystem. Here, the resource block is a unit for frequency resourceallocation in LTE, is composed of 12 subcarriers, and has a size of 180kHz.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a procedure performed by a user equipment toevaluate radio link quality in a wireless communication system accordingto an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 3, at operation 300, the user equipment performsmeasurement based on the CSI-RS for each configured frequency range andevaluates measurement results. At operation 301, the user equipmentchecks whether evaluation results for all the frequency ranges are lowerthan Q_out. If evaluation results for all the frequency ranges are lowerthan Q_out, the user equipment proceeds to operation 302 at which theuser equipment evaluates radio link quality to out-of-sync. This isbecause, as no frequency range exhibiting a level of quality enablingservice reception is present within the downlink channel bandwidth, itis not possible to smoothly provide a service.

If evaluation results for all the frequency ranges are not lower thanQ_out, the user equipment returns to operation 300 without evaluating toout-of-sync and continues radio link monitoring. This is because, as atleast one frequency range exhibiting a level of quality enabling servicereception is present within the downlink channel bandwidth, it ispossible to utilize such a frequency range. For example, thereafter, theuser equipment may send information on the frequency range exhibiting alevel of quality enabling service reception (frequency range qualityinformation) to the base station. Then, the base station may allocateresources to the indicated frequency range, leading to maximumutilization of the frequency domain.

Other evaluation schemes for radio link quality are possible. Forexample, if at least one frequency range whose evaluation result islower than Q_out is present, the user equipment may evaluate radio linkquality to out-of-sync. Otherwise, the user equipment may continue radiolink monitoring without conclusive evaluation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of another procedure performed by a user equipmentto evaluate radio link quality in a wireless communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, at operation 400, the user equipment performsmeasurement based on the CSI-RS for each configured frequency range andevaluates measurement results. At operation 401, the user equipmentchecks whether a frequency range whose evaluation result is higher thanQ_in is present. If at least one frequency range whose evaluation resultis higher than Q_in is present, the user equipment proceeds to operation402 at which the user equipment evaluates radio link quality to in-sync.That is, when the user equipment is in the physical layer problemdetection state, in-sync evaluation by reason of presence of at leastone frequency range having been evaluated to normal is advantageous torapid recovery of the user equipment. If no frequency range whoseevaluation result is higher than Q_in is present, the user equipmentreturns to operation 400 without evaluating to in-sync and continuesradio link monitoring.

Other radio link quality evaluation schemes are possible. For example,if evaluation results of all the frequency ranges are higher than Q_in,the user equipment may evaluate radio link quality to in-sync.Otherwise, the user equipment may continue radio link monitoring withoutconclusive evaluation.

As described above, the user equipment performs radio link qualityevaluation based on frequency ranges and obtains quality information foreach frequency range accordingly. The user equipment sends frequencyrange quality information obtained from radio link quality evaluationbased on frequency ranges to the base station. Hence, the base stationmay allocate downlink resources to the frequency range exhibiting alevel of quality permitting smooth service reception in the userequipment.

Here, to send frequency range quality information, the user equipmentsends a request for uplink resource allocation to the base station. Forexample, the user equipment may send a scheduling request or randomaccess preamble through the uplink to the base station.

Upon reception of the scheduling request, the base station may senduplink resource allocation information through the downlink to the userequipment. Alternatively, upon reception of the random access preamble,the base station may send a random access response containing uplinkresource allocation information to the user equipment. Thereby, the userequipment may send frequency range quality information to the basestation through uplink resources allocated by the base station.

In radio link quality evaluation based on frequency ranges, ifevaluation results of all the frequency ranges are the same, the userequipment may skip operation for uplink resource allocation. Forexample, if evaluation results of all the frequency ranges are higherthan Q_out, the user equipment may skip transmission of a schedulingrequest or random access preamble for sending frequency range qualityinformation. This is because, as it is possible to provide a smoothservice using downlink resources allocated to any of the frequencyranges, utilizing frequency range quality information will produce verylittle benefit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a procedure performed by a user equipment tosend frequency range quality information to a base station in a wirelesscommunication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, at operation 500, the user equipment performs radiolink quality evaluation based on frequency ranges. At operation 501, theuser equipment determines whether transmission of frequency rangequality information obtained from operation 500 is needed.

If it is necessary to notify the base station of a frequency rangeenabling service provisioning because evaluation results of thefrequency ranges are different from each other, the user equipmentproceeds to operation 502 at which the user equipment sends a schedulingrequest to the base station. If transmission of frequency range qualityinformation is not needed, the user equipment terminates the procedure.

After sending the scheduling request, at operation 503, the userequipment checks whether uplink resource allocation information isreceived from the base station. If uplink resource allocationinformation is received, the user equipment proceeds to operation 504 atwhich the user equipment sends the frequency range quality informationthrough allocated uplink resources to the base station.

If uplink resource allocation information is not received, the userequipment proceeds to operation 505 at which the user equipment performsradio link quality evaluation based on the overall downlink channelbandwidth (i.e. using the existing scheme not based on frequencyranges). This is because, as the base station fails to receive thescheduling request from the user equipment or the user equipment failsto receive the uplink resource allocation information from the basestation, it is not possible to obtain benefits from downlink resourceallocation using frequency range quality information. In this case, theexisting scheme for radio link quality evaluation based on the overalldownlink channel bandwidth may be utilized.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of another procedure performed by a user equipmentto send frequency range quality information to a base station in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 6, at operation 600, the user equipment performs radiolink quality evaluation based on frequency ranges. At operation 601, theuser equipment determines whether transmission of frequency rangequality information obtained from operation 600 is needed.

If it is necessary to notify the base station of a frequency rangeenabling service provisioning because valuation results of the frequencyranges are different from each other, the user equipment proceeds tooperation 602 at which the user equipment sends a random access preambleto the base station. If transmission of frequency range qualityinformation is not needed, the user equipment terminates the procedure.

After sending the random access preamble, at operation 603, the userequipment checks whether a random access response is received from thebase station. If a random access response is received, the userequipment proceeds to operation 604 at which the user equipment sendsthe frequency range quality information to the base station throughuplink resources allocated according to uplink resource allocationinformation contained in the random access response.

If a random access response is not received, the user equipment proceedsto operation 605 at which the user equipment performs radio link qualityevaluation based on the overall downlink channel bandwidth (i.e. usingthe existing scheme not based on frequency ranges). This is because, asthe base station fails to receive the random access preamble from theuser equipment or the user equipment fails to receive the random accessresponse from the base station, it is not possible to obtain benefitsfrom downlink resource allocation using frequency range qualityinformation. In this case, the existing scheme for radio link qualityevaluation based on the overall downlink channel bandwidth may beutilized.

FIG. 7 illustrates a scheme for a user equipment to insert frequencyrange quality information into the Physical Uplink Shared Channel(PUSCH) leading to a base station in a wireless communication systemaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The PUSCH is a physical channel of the LTE system used by the userequipment to send uplink data. It is specified that uplink channelinformation such as Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), ACK/NACK (AN) andRank Indicator (RI) can be inserted together with data into the PUSCHfor transmission.

In FIG. 7, the frequency range quality information to be sent from theuser equipment to the base station is represented as feedback (FB asindicated by indicia 700), and FB 700 is inserted as a symbol into DFTinput 701 for PUSCH transmission. As data can be rate-matched accordingto the amount of FB 700, the frequency range quality information may beinserted without difficulty.

RS 702 indicates an uplink reference signal that may be used by the basestation to perform channel estimation and demodulation at PUSCHreception. An AN 703 indicates a Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ)ACK/NACK signal. RI 704 indicates a Rank Indicator denoting rankinformation for Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) transmission atthe base station.

In FIG. 7, frequency range quality information denoted by FB 700 isinserted into the PUSCH together with AN 703 and RI 704. However, onlyfrequency range quality information denoted by FB 700 may be insertedinto the PUSCH without AN 703 or RI 704. Frequency range qualityinformation denoted by FB 700 may be inserted into the PUSCH togetherwith either AN 703 or RI 704. No data including frequency range qualityinformation denoted by FB 700 may be present in the PUSCH.

As a different scheme, it is possible to arrange the frequency rangequality information close to the uplink reference signal denoted by RS702 so that the base station may achieve good channel estimationaccuracy at reception of the frequency range quality information.

FIG. 8 illustrates another scheme for a user equipment to insertfrequency range quality information into the PUSCH leading to a basestation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

In FIG. 8, when a Channel Quality Indicator denoted by CQI 801 ispresent upon insertion of frequency range quality information into thePUSCH, the frequency range quality information denoted by FB 800 isinserted immediately after CQI 801. Alternatively, CQI 801 and frequencyrange quality information may be joint coded and inserted together.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a base station transceiver device in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, the base station receives a PUSCH transmissioncontaining frequency range quality information from a user equipmentthrough the antenna 900 (or a wireless communication unit). Here, thefrequency range quality information is quality information for one ormore frequency ranges within the downlink channel bandwidth.Specifically, as described before, the frequency range qualityinformation may include information on at least one frequency rangeexhibiting a reliable level of quality or information on at least onefrequency range exhibiting an unreliable level of quality.Alternatively, the frequency range quality information may includeinformation representing individual quality values of one or morefrequency ranges. Here, quality values may be represented as absolutevalues or as differences with respect to a given reference value.

The received PUSCH is passed through the cyclic prefix (CP) remover 901,DFT unit 902, resource demapper 903, and inverse DFT (IDFT) unit 904,resulting in separation of frequency range quality information from thePUSCH. The frequency range quality information is detected by thefrequency range quality information detector 905.

The resource allocation controller 906 performs downlink resourceallocation according to the detected frequency range qualityinformation. Downlink signals for the user equipment are generated bythe downlink control signal generator 907, the downlink data signalgenerator 908 and the RS generator 909. A control signal generated bythe downlink control signal generator 907 contains resource allocationinformation determined by the resource allocation controller 906.Generated downlink signals are input to the resource mapper 910 and aremapped to corresponding resources according to resource allocationdetermination made by the resource allocation controller 906. The outputof the resource mapper 910 is passed through the Inverse Fast FourierTransform (IFFT) unit 911 and the CP inserter 912 and is transmittedthrough the antenna 913 to the user equipment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a terminal transceiver device in awireless communication system according to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, the user equipment receives a downlink signalthrough the antenna 1000 of the transceiver unit (or wirelesscommunication unit). The received downlink signal is passed through theCP remover 1001, FFT unit 1002, and resource demapper 1003 and isseparated into a reference signal, data channel, and control channel.

The channel measurement unit 1004 performs downlink channel estimationand channel state measurement on the basis of the reference signal.Channel estimation results are used by the data and control signaldetector 1005 to detect data and control channels. Channel statemeasurement results are used by the radio link quality evaluator 1006 toevaluate radio link quality. In an embodiment, the channel measurementunit 1004 may measure the channel state using the CSI-RS or commonreference signal among various reference signals. If quality evaluationresults of all the frequency ranges are lower than Q_out (firstreference value), the radio link quality evaluator 1006 may evaluateradio link quality to “poor”. If at least one frequency range produces aquality evaluation result higher than Q_out, the radio link qualityevaluator 1006 does not evaluate radio link quality to “poor” and maycontinue radio link monitoring.

If at least one frequency range produces a quality evaluation resulthigher than Q_in (second reference value), the radio link qualityevaluator 1006 may evaluate radio link quality to “normal”. If qualityevaluation results of all the frequency ranges are lower than Q_in, theradio link quality evaluator 1006 does not evaluate radio link qualityto “normal” and may continue radio link monitoring.

Radio link quality evaluation indicates necessity of transmittingfrequency range quality information to the base station, the frequencyrange quality information generator 1007 generates frequency rangequality information that may be used by the base station for downlinkresource allocation.

The frequency range quality information generator 1007 may control aseries of operations to send the frequency range quality information tothe base station. To this end, the frequency range quality informationgenerator 1007 may control an operation to send an uplink resourceallocation request or random access preamble to the base station, andcontrol an operation to send the frequency range quality information tothe base station through uplink resources allocated by the base stationin response to the uplink resource allocation request or random accesspreamble. When a response corresponding to the uplink resourceallocation request or random access preamble is not received from thebase station, the frequency range quality information generator 1007 maycontrol the radio link quality evaluator 1006 to perform radio linkquality evaluation based on the overall downlink channel bandwidth.

In an embodiment, when the quality of all the frequency ranges is goodor poor, the frequency range quality information generator 1007 maycontrol an operation not to send the frequency range quality informationto the base station.

To depict this as a signal flow, the output of the frequency rangequality information generator 1007 is fed to the input of the DFT unit1008 and inserted into the PUSCH. The PUSCH containing the frequencyrange quality information is mapped by the resource mapper 1009 tocorresponding resources according to resource allocation informationobtained by the data and control signal detector 1005. The output of theresource mapper 1009 is passed through the IDFT unit 1010 and CPinserter 1011 and is transmitted through the antenna 1012 to the basestation.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of an operation procedure performed by a basestation in a wireless communication system according to an embodiment ofthe present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, the base station may receive an uplink resourceallocation request from a user equipment. As described before, theuplink resource allocation request may be a scheduling request or arandom access preamble.

Upon reception of an uplink resource allocation request from the userequipment, at operation 1100, the base station allocates uplinkresources to the user equipment. At operation 1101, the base stationreceives frequency range quality information from the user equipmentthrough the allocated uplink resources. At operation 1102, the basestation allocates downlink resources to the user equipment according tothe received frequency range quality information. Thereafter, the basestation terminates the algorithm of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an operation procedure performed by a userequipment in a wireless communication system according to an embodimentof the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, at operation 1200, the user equipment receives adownlink reference signal from the base station and performs radio linkquality evaluation based on frequency ranges on the basis of channelmeasurement results obtained with respect to the downlink referencesignal.

More specifically, performing radio link quality evaluation may include:measuring the channel state for each of one or more frequency rangesdivided within the downlink channel bandwidth; evaluating the quality ofeach frequency range using measurement results; and evaluating radiolink quality on the basis of quality evaluation results of theindividual frequency ranges.

At operation 1201, the user equipment determines whether transmission offrequency range quality information obtained from operation 1201 isneeded. If it is necessary to notify the base station of the frequencyrange quality information, the user equipment proceeds to operation 1202at which the user equipment sends an uplink resource allocation requestto the base station. As described before, the user equipment may send ascheduling request or random access preamble as an uplink resourceallocation request to the base station. If transmission of the frequencyrange quality information is not needed, the user equipment terminatesthe algorithm of the present disclosure.

After sending the uplink resource allocation request, at operation 1203,the user equipment checks whether uplink resource allocation informationis received from the base station.

If uplink resource allocation information is received, the userequipment proceeds to operation 1204 at which the user equipment sendsthe frequency range quality information through allocated uplinkresources to the base station. If uplink resource allocation informationis not received, the user equipment proceeds to operation 1205 at whichthe user equipment performs radio link quality evaluation based on theoverall downlink channel bandwidth (i.e. using the existing scheme notbased on frequency ranges). Thereafter, the user equipment terminatesthe algorithm of the present disclosure.

While the present disclosure has been shown and described with referenceto various embodiments thereof, it should be understood by those skilledin the art that many variations and modifications of the method andapparatus described herein will still fall within the spirit and scopeof the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims and theirequivalents.

1. A method by a terminal in a wireless communication system, the methodcomprising: receiving configuration information associated with one ormore frequency ranges, the one or more frequency ranges being includedin a downlink bandwidth; identifying at least one frequency range amongthe one or more frequency ranges; determining a radio link quality asin-sync or out-of-sync based on a reference signal in the at least onefrequency range; and identifying whether a physical layer problem isdetected based on an indication of the out-of-sync, wherein theconfiguration information includes location and bandwidth of eachfrequency range.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the radio linkquality is determined as the in-sync in a case that a radio link qualityof at least one resource in resources for radio link monitoring isbetter than a first reference value.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe radio link quality is determined as the out-of-sync in a case that aradio link quality of all resources for radio link monitoring is worsethan a second reference value.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein, in acase that a plurality of carriers are configured to the terminal, aradio link monitoring is performed on a plurality of frequency rangesincluded in the plurality of carriers.
 5. The method of claim 1, whereinthe identifying whether the physical layer problem is detectedcomprises: identifying whether the indication of the out-of-sync occursa first number of times consecutively or not; and identifying that thephysical layer problem is detected and starting a timer and in a casethat the out-of-sync indication occurs the first number of timesconsecutively.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: identifyingwhether an indication of the in-sync occurs a second number of timesconsecutively or not while the timer is running; and identifying thatthe physical layer problem recovers.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinthe reference signal is a channel state information reference signal(CSI-RS).
 8. A terminal in a wireless communication system, comprising:a transceiver; and a controller coupled with the transceiver andconfigured to: receive configuration information associated with one ormore frequency ranges, the one or more frequency ranges being includedin a downlink bandwidth, identify at least one frequency range among theone or more frequency ranges, determine a radio link quality as in-syncor out-of-sync based on a reference signal in the at least one frequencyrange, and identify whether a physical layer problem is detected basedon an indication of the out-of-sync, wherein the configurationinformation includes location and bandwidth of each frequency range. 9.The terminal of claim 8, wherein the radio link quality is determined asthe in-sync in a case that a radio link quality of at least one resourcein resources for radio link monitoring is better than a first referencevalue.
 10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the radio link quality isdetermined as the out-of-sync in a case that a radio link quality of allresources for radio link monitoring is worse than a second referencevalue.
 11. The terminal of claim 8, wherein in a case that a pluralityof carriers are configured to the terminal, a radio link monitoring isperformed on a plurality of frequency ranges included in the pluralityof carriers.
 12. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the controller isfurther configured to: identify whether the indication of theout-of-sync occurs a first number of times consecutively or not, andidentify that the physical layer problem is detected and starting atimer and in a case that the out-of-sync indication occurs the firstnumber of times consecutively.
 13. The terminal of claim 12, wherein thecontroller is further configured to: identify whether an indication ofthe in-sync occurs a second number of times consecutively or not whilethe timer is running, and identify that the physical layer problemrecovers.
 14. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the reference signal is achannel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).